lt is one of the most haunting photos in the Edmonton Journal archives: a picture of Thomas Svekla, dressed in a green camouflage jacket and tinted round sunglasses, smiling tauntingly at the camera, his finger held to his lips. “Shhhh,” he seems to be saying. “I’ve got a secret.”

Corn on the cob: Tips for buying, storing and eating the beloved summer veggie

Sweet corn, which is what we eat, is a natural mutation of field corn, the stuff grown to feed livestock and for other commercial purposes.

Photograph by: Maxim Bassein
, Fotolia.com

Peaches& Cream is the best corn on the cob, right? Not necessarily.

In fact,not only is Peaches & Cream a fictional rather than an actual variety ofcorn, but corn on the cob itself is fraught with more complexity, opinions andinteresting sidebars than you’d imagine.

Here is aprimer on the beloved summer fare.

The Back story

Sweet corn,which is what we eat, is a natural mutation of field corn, the stuff grown tofeed livestock and for other commercial purposes.

Sweet cornhas been available only since the 1700s, according to a University of Kentuckypaper on corn production. And there are dozens of varieties grown, such asEarlivee, Silver Queen and Champ.

They rangefrom early to late-harvest varieties; include yellow, white and bicolour(yellow and white) kernels, and vary in sugar content, with “supersweet” beingthe equivalent of a Tim Hortons double-double.

With theadvent of supersweet and other hybrids, Golden Bantam, the old staple of tablecorn, has almost vanished from the consumer market.

The Wordfrom the Field

Theubiquitous Peaches & Cream isn’t actually a variety at all, says GiselleProulx of Proulx Maple & Berry Farm in Cumberland, Ont. “It’s a marketingterm. You could have five different (varieties) of yellow-and-white corn, butthey all get called Peaches & Cream.”

Because thecobs are usually big and there’s so much marketing hype surrounding Peaches& Cream, people ask for it, she says. “They think they’re getting theirmoney’s worth. If it’s picked fresh, of course, you’ll like it. There’s nothingwrong with it. But yellow corn is a lot sweeter. The cobs are smaller, sothat’s a marketing issue, but try it and you’ll see the difference.”

Nutrition

Accordingto the United States Department of Agriculture, one ear of corn has 80calories, one gram of fat or about two per cent of daily requirements, andvirtually no sodium.

A singleear also provides 10 per cent of daily fibre requirement.

Addingbutter brings the sodium to one per cent of daily needs, but it bumps fat,nearly all of it the unhealthy saturated variety, from two to eight per cent ofrecommended daily intake.

Where toBuy

You’ll findfreshly picked corn at outdoor markets and roadside stands, and farms oftensell at the farm gate. Grocery stores and health food stores carry corn,although you’ll need to ask whether it’s from area farms and when it waspicked.

How toBuy, Cook and Store

The sugarin corn starts converting to starch as soon as it’s picked, so fresh is alwaysbest.

Whenbuying, Foodland Ontario says to look for bright green, moist husks and silkthat is stiff, dark and moist. You should be able to feel individual kernels bypressing gently against the husk.

Corn soldat reputable roadside stands and the farm gate is picked the same day. Grocerystore corn may or may not be that fresh.

If you arenot eating the corn as soon as you buy it, refrigerate in a plastic bag for upto three days.

Corn on thecob can be boiled, microwaved, barbecued, steamed or roasted in the husk,de-husked or wrapped in aluminum foil. You can also try putting the cobs intoboiling water, turning off the heat and letting them sit for a few minutesbefore eating. The less you cook, the crunchier and sweeter the kernels willbe.

Uneatencobs can be blanched and either frozen whole or the kernels scraped off andfrozen for a tasty mid-winter treat. For blanching instructions, visitbit.ly/aYasuF.

ChowingDown

There’s noright way to eat corn on the cob except to savour the experience. You can usecorn picks to hold the cobs, but since that means you can’t lick the butter andcorn juice off your fingers, why would you?

How you eatcorn on the cob may reveal your personality. According to a story in the LosAngeles Times, typewriter-style eaters (left to right) are likely to be orderlytypes possibly prone to obsessive-compulsive disorders.

Manychildren and impulsive people apparently use the random, hunt-and-peck method.

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